ro water love it or hate it?

[leaf]

thats exactly right its caustic. but if used correctly it will provide very pure water. leaf

[hysterix]

sup leaf, here is my post copy pasted from another thread:

The minerals that are found in the tap water are not in the same form that the minerals are found in purified nutrients such as cal-mag or whatever. I have very hard water, around 300 ppm straight out of the tap, but most of those ppm's are not able to be uptake by the plant.

The plants don't uptake nearly the amount of calcium or magnesium found in tap water that they need. I saw an astounding difference with the same plants when I switched to r.o. water and needed to add back in more cal-mag.

I had a very long discussion with a chemist about this, and pretty much the calcium and magnesium found in tap is not the correct form for plants to uptake. They can only uptake very tiny amounts of it, and if you do not supplement back with cal-mag, (at least I find in my area with my strain), they become deficient. In fact, the chemist pointed out to me, that (in my tap water for example), this 300 ppm of 'rogue nutrients' we shall call them, actually interfere with the uptake of other nutrients!!! (bad!)

Has anyone ever done a nute mix with tap water and noticed precipitate created? I have, many times actually. That is partially the tap water nutrients interacting at a molecular level with the purified nutrients and precipitating them into a solid substance. In other words, the plant can't uptake anymore because the 'chunks' of nutrients are now too large.

I'm sure all of this depends on region as well, but just know where I'm from, ro water make a big positive difference!

This is a point swerve and I slightly disagree on and talk about all the time.

Also the fact that ro water is caustic does not mean it is bad. ph up and down is harmful by itself as well but most people here still use it!

[leaf]

no its not bad if used correctly. It is an option just dont think its the best option. Also the environmental impact of the waste water makes this choice very low on my list of choices but it can offer good results as long as you dont mind the environmental impact and you dont have any better options. leaf

[Medi-1]

this is true statement that the cacium source we have in tap water is not good. but we dont need it till we are growing in coco. what we do get us enough. and is also in the main line of foods and not just in the cal supp`s
i have looked into this.
we have a new ro type water and filtering sytem that does no water to waste for it..depending in the sytem type and filtering you want...ill post about them later. is made by Hydrologic.

[39green]

leaf can u explain this enviromental impact a bit more? doesn't the water just go back into the system?i don't think the water would be toxic.it would just have a bunch of minerals in it no?it costs more i understand that.again i think being able to control whats in ur water before u add anything into it is important when growing.just for the simple reason u don't have that build up of minerals the plant doesnt need or use .when i switched over to ro i noticed a large difference in taste of final product .

[hysterix]

leaf can u explain this enviromental impact a bit more? doesn't the water just go back into the system?i don't think the water would be toxic.it would just have a bunch of minerals in it no?it costs more i understand that.again i think being able to control whats in ur water before u add anything into it is important when growing.just for the simple reason u don't have that build up of minerals the plant doesnt need or use .when i switched over to ro i noticed a large difference in taste of final product .

39green, I thought about this as well. You can't "ruin" water, its just water with other minerals in it. I guess people consider it a waste anytime you have some what palatable drinking water being flushed down the drain and put back into the ocean.

I know of people who use the waste water to water their lawns, so there are many ways to lesson the environmental impact of using ro.

[electro]

RO water is important to me because gives me the ability to know exactly what's in the water, no surprises. I add exactly what i think is needed. Over here the water is 500-600PPM out of the faucet, so RO is necessary. Using Cal-Mag & Micro and other organic additives you can put back in the RO what is needed.

What are you guys doing to get rid of Chlorine?

[leaf]

Im not saying dont use it Im just saying its not the holy grail so many believe it to be. As far as how it is bad to flush 3 gallons of water for every one filtered it brakes down like this. You are billed for water and sewer services for a reason. Municipalities treat sewage and waste water before returning it to the environment. Every gallon wasted means more energy and chemicals used to treat that waste water. Also these systems are overloaded as it is and excess strains on these systems is the cause of many leaks of polluted water into or lakes and streams. I guess im just a little more environmentally concerned then hysterix as I also grow organically versus manufactured nutrients and care about how my waste water affects others in my community. RO may be the best bet in some situations but we must at least know the facts before we can decide if its worth it or not. leaf